The 5 Most Common Problems New Programmers Face--And How You Can Solve Them

Getting set up

Learning to program is hard enough, but it's easy to get tripped up before you even begin. First you need to chose a programming language (I recommend C++), then You need a compiler and a programming tutorial that covers the language you chose and that works with the compiler that you set up. This is all very complicated, and all before you even start to get to the fun parts.

If you're still struggling with getting the initial setup, then check out our page on setting up a compiler and development environment (Code::Blocks and MINGW) which walks you through setting up a compiler with a lot of screenshots, and gets you up to the point of having an actual running program.

Thinking Like a Programmer

Have you seen the State Farm commercials where the car wash company returns the cars to customers with the soap suds still on the car? The company washes the car, but it didn't rinse it.

This is a perfect metaphor for computer programs. Computers, like that car wash company, are very very literal. They do exactly, and only, what you tell them to do; they do not understand implicit intentions. The level of detail required can be daunting at first because it requires thinking through every single step of the process, making sure that no steps are missing.

This can make programming seem to be a tough slog at first, but don't despair. Not everything must be specified--only what is not something the computer can already do. The header files and libraries that come with your compiler (for example, the iostream header file that allows you to interact with the user) provide a lot of pre-existing functionality. You can use websites like http://www.cppreference.com or our own function reference to find information on these pre-existing libraries of functionality. By using these, you can focus on precisely specifying only what is unique about your program. And even once you do that, you will begin to see patterns that can be turned into functions that wrap up a bunch of steps into a single function that you can call from everywhere. Suddenly complex problems will begin to look simple. It's the difference between:

The magic thing about programming is that you can box up a complex behaviour into a simple subroutine (often, into a function) that you can reuse. Sometimes it's hard to get the subroutine done up just right at first, but once you've got it, you no longer need to worry about it.

You can go here to read more about how to think about programming, written for beginners.

Compiler Error Messages

This may seem like a small thing, but because most beginners aren't familiar with the strictness of the format of the program (the syntax), beginners tend to run into lots of complaints generated by the compiler. Compiler errors are notoriously cryptic and verbose, and by no means were written with newbies in mind.

That said, there are a few basic principles you can use to navigate the thicket of messages. First, often times a single error causes the compiler to get so confused that it generates dozens of messages--always start with the first error message. Second, the line number is a lie. Well, maybe not a lie, but you can't trust it completely. The compiler complains when it first realizes there is a problem, not at the point where the problem actually occurred. However, the line number does indicate the last possible line where the error could have occurred--the real error may be earlier, but it will never be later.

Finally, have hope! You'll eventually get really really good at figuring out what the compiler actually means. There will be a few error messages that today seem completely cryptic, even once you know what the real problem was, that in a few months time you will know like an old (if confused) friend. I've actually written more about this in the past; if you want more detailed help, check out my article on deciphering compiler and linker errors. (Interested in learning how to deal with these errors and other programming problems in a more guided way? Consider taking a course in computer science with our sponsor, Creighton online.)

Debugging

Debugging is a critical skill, but most people aren't born with a mastery of it. Debugging is hard for a few reasons; first, it's frustrating. You just wrote a bunch of code, and it doesn't work even though you're pretty sure it should. Damn! Second, it can be tedious; debugging often requires a lot of effort to narrow in on the problem, and until you have some practice, it can be hard to efficiently narrow it down. One type of problem, segmentation faults, are a particularly good example of this--many programmers try to narrow in on the problem by adding in print statements to show how far the program gets before crashing, even though the debugger can tell them exactly where the problem occurred. Which actually leads to the last problem--debuggers are yet another confused, difficult to set up tool, just like the compiler. If all you want is your program to work, the last thing you want to do is go set up ANOTHER tool just to find out why.

To learn more about debugging techniques, check out this article on debugging strategies.

Designing a Program

When you're just starting to program, design is a real challenge. Knowing how to think about programming is one piece, but the other piece is knowing how to put programs together in a way that makes it easy to modify them later. Ideas like "commenting your code", "encapsulation and data hiding" and "inheritance" don't really mean anything when you haven't felt the pain of not having them. The problem is that program design is all about making things easier for your future self--sort of like eating your vegetables. Bad designs make your program inflexible to future changes, or impossible to understand after you've written. Frequently, bad design exposes too many details of how something is implemented, so that every part of the program has to know all the details of each other section of the program.

One great example is writing a checkers game. You need some way to represent the board--so you pick one. A fixed-sized global array: int checkers_board[8][8]. Your accesses to the board all go directly through the array: checkers_board[x][y] = ....; Is there anything wrong with this approach? You betcha. Notice that I wrote your accesses to the board all go directly through the array. The board is the conceptual entity--the thing you care about. The array happens to be, at this particular moment, how you implement the board. Again, two things: the thing you represent, and the way you represent it. By making all accesses to the board use the array directly, you entangle the two concepts. What happens when you decide to change the way you represent the board? You have an awful lot of code to change. But what's the solution?

If you create a function that performs the types of basic operations you perform on the checkers board (perhaps a get_piece_on_square() method and a set_piece_to_square() method), every access to the board can go through this interface. If you change the implementation, the interface is the same. And that's what people mean when they talk about "encapsulation" and "data hiding". Many aspects of program design, such as inheritance, are there to allow you to hide the details of an implementation (the array) of a particular interface or concept (the board).

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Here is your Debugging Tips:-

You are never too old to learn something stupid. You can go too slowly as well as too fast.

Don't avoid a topic after you have mastered everything in it. By facing more challenging ideas, it will help cement grasp of the basics.

1. Look at the example code:

Reading is usually about the words on the page, but learning to program is about Code. When you are first learning to program, you should make sure to look at and try to understand each and every example carefully and understand them. If you are unable to understand then try asking someone who has expertise in it, remember ‘Lesson repeat itself unless they are read”.

When I first learned to program, I would sometimes read the code examples before the text, and try to figure out how it worked. It doesn't always work, but it did force me to look at the example very carefully and at times it often helped make the concept clear.

2. Don't just read example codes but run them:

But when you are reading a programming book, it is easy to look at the sample code and say "I get it that makes sense". Of course, you might get it, but you might not get it, and you just don't know it. There is only one way to find out to do something with that code. Then type the sample code into a compiler, if you type it, instead of copying and pasting it, you will really force yourself to go through everything that is there. Typing the code will force you to pay attention to the details of the syntax of the language, things like those funny semicolons that seem to go after every line.

Then compile it and run it. Make sure it does what you think it does. Then change it. Software is the most easily changeable machinery available on the planet. You can experiment easily, try new things, see what happens, the changes will happen almost immediately. The easiest way to learn new language features is to take some code that works one way and change it to the other.

3. Write your own code as soon as possible:

Once you understand something about the language or even if you are still getting your head around it, start writing simple programs that use it.

Sometimes it is hard to find good ideas for what programs to write. That's OK; you don't have to come up with every idea at the beginning. You can find some programming challenges on this site.

You can also re-implement the examples from the book you are reading. Try to do so without looking back at the sample code; it won't be as easy as it seems. This technique can work especially well if you tweak the sample code. If you can't think of a small program to write, but you have in mind a larger program you want to implement, like a game, you could start building small pieces that you can later use for a game. Whether you use them later or not, you will get the same useful experience.

4. Learn to use a debugger:

The sooner you learn debugging, easier it will be to learn to program. The first step in doing so is to learn how to use a tool called a debugger which allows you to step through your code. A debugger will allow you to step line by line through a piece of code. It will let you see the values of variables and whether the code inside an "if" statement is executed.

A debugger can help you quickly answer questions about what your code is doing.

int main()

{

int x;

int y;

if( x > 4 ) // What is the value of x here?

{

y = 5; // Did this line of code execute?

}

}

A final word about debuggers, the first time you learn about a debugger, it will take you longer to fix the problems with your code. After the tenth or so bug, it will really start to pay off.

And believe me, you will have way more than ten bugs in your programming career.

I often saw students unwilling to use a debugger.

These students really made life hard on themselves, taking ages to find very simple bugs. The sooner you learn to use a debugger, the sooner it will pay off.

5.Seek out more sources:

If you don't understand something, there's a good possibility the way it was explained just didn't click. First, look for alternative explanations. The internet and this blog are filled with information about programming, and some explanations work better for different people; you might need pictures, someone else might not. There are also lots of good books with detailed explanations.

But if that does not work, the easiest way to figure out where your misunderstanding lies is to ask someone else. But try to go beyond saying, "I don't understand. Please explain". You are likely to get a link back to the same text you did not understand. Instead, rephrase your understanding of the text in your words.

The more your question reveals about what you are thinking, the easier it will be for a knowledgeable expert to answer it.

Programmers sometimes have a reputation for being grumpy about answering questions, but I think the reason is that they want to make progress in a conversation, and that requires both sides to put in effort. If you ask a smart, detailed question that shows you are thinking, you will generally get good results.